Assault on the File Archipelago
by FrenchGeek5550
Summary: As the human intervention in the "Digital Front" intensified in the second year, the IDDF expand its forces to liberate the Digital World from the Imperium. Away from the main force, the 2nd RIMa must capture an archipelago stranded in the middle of an expansive ocean. A small side story to the "Digital Crisis" AU, recounting the event through a soldier's perpective.
1. Chapter 1

**The Battle of the File Archipelago**

 ** _(August 3rd 2018-August 6th 2018)_**

 _I thrist for adventure for those who hungers for freedom._

 _I am the guardian of valours that are priceless._

 _Always solidary, never solitary._

 _I stay awake for you to sleep in peace._

 _I want to be the new breath of life just after the storm._

 _Always standing, I move on to reduce fear._

 _Here, there and far beyond;_

 _I will always go forward so that men never back down._

 _Your will, our pride._

 _Extract from the Armée de Terre recruitment advertissement_

* * *

 _Day 1, 8 clicks away from File island 2_

Private 1st Class Nathan Yvelin was gazing at the File islands, relaxed. The soothing tropical breeze caressing his skin lightly. On board the troop carrier _Echeleon_ built by the Deep Savers, the Infantry Marines of 5th and 4th company of the 2nde RIMa, or 2nd Marine Infantry Regiment, are currently on a mission to capture and secure the File Archipelago with Jungle Troopers' 4th Marine Regiment and Deep Savers' 6th Assault Regiment. With a force over 650 troops, they need to capture all eight islands under imperial control.

Much to the IDDF's surprise, the digimon were able to rebuild the exact model of modern-day amphibious assault ships, however payment was also discussed for compensation. How? Only time will tell after the war.

Leaning on the railings, Nathan was admiring the calm tropical scenery but he knew that it won't be as calm once the operation begins, in a few minutes. He wore over his camouflage Daguet combat attire his bullet proof vest, his modified FAMAS F1 slung by the straps to his side while his combat helmet rested on the rifle's buttstock.

With one last eased breath, he puts on his combat helmet and pulled the tan scarf around his neck up to cover his face below his eyes, leaving only his bright blue eyes to the world. He took a mag out from his vest's pouch and inserted it in the rifle. He cocked the charging handle back and released it, a mechanical snap responded informing him that a round was chambered in and ready to shoot.

The File Archipelago consisted of eight islands, all varied in size and sometimes terrain. File Island 1 is located at the center of the formation of islands, and it is the largest. It is a steep and rocky mountain island with remnants of an old fortress at the flat peak, providing a great overview on the other islands. It would have been a great vacation paradise but now it is a warzone.

The main island is flourished with multiple tropical flowers and palm trees and thick forages, mixed with rocky terrain and large boulders dotting the island. On the edges of the island were the soft sand beaches and small, comfortable bungalows, built by its previous occupants before it was taken over by the Imperium.

The fort was the main objective. Though it may seemed empty and ruined, it held a great significance for the Imperium since it held a large hive-like military complex underneath the mountain, long and narrow hallways connecting with the surface. On the fort were installed four powerful weapons at each cardinal points of the island. The weapon emplacements can only be described simply as rail guns, automated rail gun turrets

As for the other islands, they held little to no importance for the imperials. The smaller islands were used as a natural defensive land wall around File Island 1. The imperials built bunkers, heavy weapons emplacements and trenches were dug in, reinforced with concrete and barbed wires.

Some islands were connected to each other by large wooden bridges, however none of the islands were connected to File Island 1, it was separated by deep sea water. File Island 5 do have a possible entry, but it was a natural shallow sand bridge, to fragile to support the weight of the humans' vehicles; thus only the digimon will have to capture the fort, the humans will provide fire support with mortars and the few attack helicopters available for them.

Capturing an island is easy; holding it will be hard.

It is going to be a slaughter before the coalition can reach the main island. Surrounded by miles upon miles of ocean. Getting additional support from the main force was out of the question; their manpower, firepower and supplies are limited to the four troop carriers they have. With a small force and with limited ressources, the operation must be done in less than a week at a minimum to not strain too much ressources.

Once in the VBCI, a tall and monstrous machine of war, the soldiers mentally prepared and braced themselves for the mission to begin in a few minutes. The wait was spent at a long and painful rate for the French Marines.

Though the French Army has changed the previous standard issue rifle, the FAMAS, for the HK416, under the designation of "HK416F"; the sudden need of more troops to the "Digital Front" meant that Nathan, like a few thousand soldiers of the French army, didn't get the chance to receive the new AR before deployment.

Nathan felt the vehicle shaking lightly as its engines roared to life. With a final sigh, he closed his eyes and awaits for the moment when they will go forward into the fray.

The rear ramp of the ship opened, letting water to flood in, filling about half the height of most land vehicles. A dozen of VBCIs came out first into the vast ocean with the smaller VABs, later following behind them was a landing craft that carried two battle tanks.

The vehicle tilted frequently forward and backward, making some of the marines a little bit nauseous. Suddenly they heard several high pitched whistles before water splashed on the side armours. The enemy had already begun their bombardments. Then it was followed by hundreds of metal hitting the armour, bouncing off harmlessly. The APC fired back, spitting 25mm rounds at the enemy coast, the crew's gunner operated the M811 turret from the computer controller safely inside the vehicle. The empty, large bullet casings bounced on the top of the APC as it fired in consistently.

"Dry feet in 60 seconds." Announced loudly the driver.

The soldiers switched the safeties off. Giving one last quick inspection on their weapon before biding each other good luck. One of the marines started to give a small prayer to his fellow squadmates. Though Nathan doesn't know if God can hear them in the Digital World, he still felt a little bit reassured.

"Amen." Was their unanimous reply once the prayer was done.

The vehicle jolted harshly as it made contact with the shoreline, the bullets whizzing by intensified. It halted before the back exit pulled down, revealing the marines the ocean being peppered by artillery shells, water spurting upwards as shells impacted on the liquid surface.

Nathan quickly got out, his feet landed abruptly with the soft sand of the tropical coast before a chunk kicked up as he took off on a sprint. The French marines quickly dived for cover behind the small dunes ahead of them.

Machine guns spewed out bullets furiously, sweeping the coast. Dozens of marines were hit as soon as they got out of the APCs. The cries of help of the wounded were muffled by the sounds of angry barking rifles and machine guns, Nathan lifted his assault fire and began to suppress a machine gun crew hiding behind a formation of sandbags.

When most of the foot soldiers got out, the APCs moved forward while opening fire. The soldiers waited until they pass the dunes to used them as mobile cover. Shortly after their arrival, the landcraft came to the shore, letting out the two Leclerc Battle tanks.

Following his squad leader, they charged at the small bunker ahead of them. The guns inside the structure kept spewing bullets to the embarking troops at the beach. The squad took cover near the rocks and bushes, the sergeant pointed to Nathan and PFC. Jerome, with precise and clear hand signals he ordered them to prep a frag grenade.

They did so and the rest of the squad opened fire, suppressing the enemy in the bunker. The machine gun halted its shower of death, the two soldiers sprinted out of their cover and as soon as they touch the bunker, they tossed the explosives into the curve opening at the front and hit the ground while covering their heads.

Seconds passed as the hand grenades exploded, swallowing the residents in its fiery blast. The two men got up and fired blindly in the opening slit, making sure there were no survivors. A group of three soldiers breached through the rear door, kicking the metal obstructure down and opening fire blindly.

"R.A.S!" One of them yelled.

The French soldiers repeated the same process, sweeping and clearing the fortifications. Luckily for them, the island held no trenches, however it is also one of the thinest and longest of the islands, meaning the imperials had plenty of targets to shoot at and with little trouble since the island didn't have any sturdy cover.

"Get those mortars down now!" Yelled Captain Jacques Lebel.

Infantry mortar teams set down the 81mm mortars and began firing at Island 1. Soon, the soldiers were being fired upon by the neighbouring islands, three sides to defend with little troops to begin with. Hostile artillery cannons bombarded their island, sand were shot up, palm trees shredded and blown apart, sending barks around them. To get cover, the soldiers are going to dig one. Foxholes quickly dotted the island.

"Commander! We are taking a beating here! Where the fuck are the digimon?!" Demanded the captain with irritation in his voice.

 _"We're *static* ha *static* diff *static* -please re*static*-"_ The captain tossed the portable radio back at the specialist. "We are going to plan B." He stated before calling out some of his subordinates. "Take your platoons and capture Island 3," He instructed at the two lieutenants while pointing at their new objective. "I want that building down ASAP. Be aware that the imps are jamming our comms so there will be little air support. Am I clear?"

"Yes, Captain." They replied dutifully.

Sand rained down on him as Nathan ducked his head lower. He fired a couple of shots back but quickly ducked down as dozens of bullets zipped by his head. To his left, he spotted a large crater. He crawled to the potential cover at a painstakingly slow pace. Once he was near it, he rolled into it. However, he got the unpleasent surprise to land next to a corpse.

"Fuck!" He shouted in shock.

His right arm was covered in the blood of the dead. He stared back at the deceased; he was a young private, his body tore in half, legs were completely gone, letting a large pool of blood filling the bottom of the crater. His face showed the shock and horror expression he had before he was killed, his lifeless eyes stared at the sky while his skin paled. A small river of blood was flowing out of his mouth.

Still in shock, Nathan took in deep breaths to control his heartbeat. Suddenly he heard someone calling him from behind.

"Nathan, let's go! We are moving out!" Ordered Corporal Fabien Monfort. "Come on, kid, get out of the hole!"

He gulped nervously and let out a sigh, feeling a bit better. He scrambled to get back on his feet and got out of the crater. He took one last glance at the dead soldier before following the Corporal.

While the squads regrouped around him, Second Lieutenant Valentin Dubois took a quick observation at the secondary objective area. He turned back and faced his subordinates.

"Listen up, for now we do not know why the digimon are not here yet so we just have to make do for the time being," Some of them gave slight nods of understanding, "Our new objective is to take and hold File island 3, we're going with First platoon. They will take the bridge while we cross the small river underneath it. Am I understood?" He asked sternly.

"Sir, yes sir!" They all replied unanimously.

First Platoon took up their positions before the bridge, laying down cover fire for Second platoon to cross from below. With cover fire and smoke grenades, they managed to take a small foothold and in their turn provided cover fire for 1st platoon while they cross the bridge.

With quick actions and synchronised volume of fire, the imperial troopers were pinned down. The French soldiers moved swiftly and precisely, the platoons broke into squads who all went in different key locations of the island, surrounding the enemy force.

Nathan ran down the small stair to the concrete-made trench, FAMAS drawn forward and ready to shoot on sight at a moment's notice. The bullpup assault rifle barked rapidly, spewing out three rounds in less than a second. The rapid bullets pierced the Troopmon's torso easily. It barked a second time, then a third and so forth. Nathan was at the head of his squad, clearing the path for them. The digimon were no match for the french bullpup service rifle, a beast of a machine capable of spewing hot lead at 1000 RPM; compact and deadly from close to mid range.

The imperials were in disarray. Their enemies operated swiftly and deadly at close range, leaving no room for any close quarters melee.

The last of the opposition force on the island was hold up in the building, making their last stand with an advantage on solid cover and high ground, though the humans outgunned and outnumbered them.

"I want Minimis to suppress the windows," Ordered Dubois from the trench. "First squad back door breach!"

FN Minimi fireteams took positions and fired at any window, restricting the enemy to fire rest of the platoon joined in, firing in short bursts to conserve ammo while First squad ran to the back door. The sergeant kicked the door open and they soon went in. The Lieutenant patiently waited for a sitrep from the squad leader as they clear out the building floor after floor. The platoon suppressive fire died down, not wanting to hit one of their own by accident, the fire was now directed at the other islands.

A few minutes later, they noticed one of their own at the rooftop and waving their arms around, the coast is clear, the building is theirs.

"Move to the building," Dubois shouted over the sound of guns firing. "I want MILANs on the rooftop!"

Nathan followed is squad to the rooftop. Each floor resonated with assault rifles and light machine guns, the FN MAG 58 being the loudest and meanest, shooting lead at the enemy, empty and warm bullet casings resonated through the floors like a soothing, quiet melody in the background of the combined cacophony of modern day infantry weapons. It was music to his ears.

Once on the rooftop, two men from his squad quickly deployed the missile launchers, setting the aiming and tripods while the Lieutenant was behind them, his eyes stuck on the binoculars. Nathan simply took cover behind the waist high wall and waited for further orders. He was surprised that the railguns didn't open fire at them yet, they were in firing sights and they know that they've lost one major island, surely they would respond back by blowing the island up.

Either way, he was relieved. Even more when he heard some of his brothers-in-arms cheering, and some groaning like the usual french stereotype, when the digimon allies finally arrived in the battlefield. Looking up, his eyes were set on a group of avian digimon, charging at File Island 8. They struck fast and hard, destroying enemy AA guns and ammo deposit, leaving behind them clouds of explosions.

"About damn time they come here," Jerome complained dryly. "They were suppose to be here an hour ago, lazy and unprofessional shits." He added with a growl.

"Ferme ta gueule, Jerome," Scolded Sergeant Nacim Manara, "Be at least grateful that they came here. Extra firepower would do us some good."

The sergeant looked back through his binoculars, calmly observing the ongoing hectic battlefield. Second Platoon of 4th company is currently assaulting File Island 6; he spotted a small squad of hostile mobile artillery in File Island 4 targeting their forces.

"Sir," He shouted through the loud gunfires, "I spot at least five mobile artillery units on Island 4!" He reported loud and clearly.

"I have lock-on, sir!" Informed Cpl. Julien Cambrais, already eager to pull the launcher's trigger.

"Let them have 'em, boys!" The lieutenant replied back.

Everyone on the roof ducked their heads before the missiles were off, shaking the rooftop and covering them in dust and smoke. After a few moments, the platoon commander confirmed the hits, two hostile tanks were out cleanly, so to speak.

The squads got back up and resumed to unleash storms of lead at their enemy. Nathan felt the adrenaline rushing through his whole body as he lay down small bursts on his targets. With the combat earplugs on, he could only hear his own breathing, pounding heart and his rifle, his right eye glued to the Aimpoint M2 red dot sight. Firing two quick sessions, the weapon kicked up, he re-adjusted his aim and fired again, the metallic _click and clack_ at each burst, followed by empty and warm bullet casings tinkling on the ground, sent him a satisfying shiver down his spine; this was the rushing feeling he was longing for eversince his last tour in Operation Barkhane.

The battle raged on throughout the whole morning. File island 6 was taken by the French soldiers a few hours later. Each passing time intensified the firefights. Eventually, the humans' first major problem appeared, re-supply.

The imperials were getting more aggressive at each step forward the allied forces took, ammunation was running out quickly for the French infantry marines. Transport helos were now prime targets for most artillery-type digimon and rail guns.

"Ah fuck!" Shouted a soldier near Nathan, "I'm on my last mag!"

"Here," Sergeant Manara tossed him the infamous 25-rounds box magazine, "Make sure to make each shot count!" He then turned to the lieutenant, "Sir, when will we get our supplies?"

"It should be here in two minutes, better pop smoke now." He suggested before quickly ducking his head down when a missile barely scraped the rooftop. "We need to take Island 5 if we want to live through this shit."

"So what are your orders, sir?" Another Sergeant asked beside him.

"For now we need to regather our strenghts and resupply. The Captain will give us the order to attack. Fortify this position and await for further orders."

"Sir yes sir!" They all replied.

"Second squad on me!" Manara called and they all went down the stairs.

Supply helos finally arrived under heavy enemy fire. Miraculously, none of them got it, for now. A soldier waved his arms high above, gesturing the helicopter where to land. Once on the ground, troopers quickly took away the supplies and placed the woundeds in.

"Hang in there, Remy," Nathan assured his friend as he and another trooper carried the wounded to the helicopter. "This is probably nothing, bro."

"It's not the wound that worries me," Remy replied, "It's my wife that is going to be the death of me," He added with a humerous smile, despite his condition.

"That's the Remy we all know and hate," The other trooper said jokingly.

They both hauled him in the helicopter, the last one for them. As it flew away, Nathan waved Remy a final goodbye. He checked his FAMAS for the tenth time this past half hour, two full mags left, one frag grenade and one green smoke grenade. The battle was still on going but somehow he managed to cut himself off reality for a small moment. He could clearly hear his own breathing and steady heart, he could feel every sweat pouring out of his skin and flowing down his body. Things were clearer, more simple. With a sense of ease and tranquility, he slowly closed his eyes before opening them a second later. That moment of peace felt like hours for him, which he didn't complained. He now feels rejuvinated, his training and instincts kicking in, things are now a lot more clear. With a sigh, he placed a new mag in the rifle, pulled the charging handle, round chambered, and he took off in a light jog towards a nearby ammo supply crate.

"SMOKES OUT!" Ordered Chief Sergeant "Popeye" Chevallier.

The battle to take File Island 5 has begun. Dubois' men just crossed the bridge but were quickly pinned down, holding only a small foothold on the island. Between them and the heavily dug in imperials was a hundred meters of 'no man's land', no one dared to go in. As for cover, the French soldiers had fox holes and boulders while the imperials were in their trenches, supported by machine gun teams positioned behind sandbags or in the few bunkers. Several Marines threw M18 smoke grenades at the general direction before laying cover fire for two men.

Chief Corporal Daniel DuHavres and PFC. Guillaume "Tell" Allard slowly crawled their way to the foremost bunker, DuHavres has a rucksack full of C4 explosives. Fortunately for them the enemy haven't noticed them yet. From one crater to another, they finally neared the bunker, DuHavre passed the explosive bag to Allard. The Private First Class waited for the machine gun crew to stop and reload. The bright flashes coming out of the openign slit momentarily ceased, Guillaume wasted no time and hurled the rucksack in the bunker. The two of them crawled away to another crater. DuHavres took out the detonator and mentally counted down to one. With a simple push of a button, a fiery blast from within enemy line tore up the trenches, consuming the nearby legionaires in flames while the shockwave broke their formation.

This was their moment to attack. Popeye stood up and looked back at his men. "FORWARD! MAKE THEM SUFFER!" He bellowed confidently, the soldiers pumped by his stern voice and unparalleled courage.

The men got out of their cover and sprinted into no man's land. The legionaires still disoriented from the blast were caught with their pants down when the French troops are on top of them. A Marine fired at two legionaires before he used the FAMAS' buttstock to strike at a Commandramon across his cheek, blood spat out of his muzzle.

DuHavre was struggling to plunge his combat knife into a Troopmon's throat when a Garurumon tackled him to the ground. He was saved from having his face ripped apart when Allard shot the massive canine to the chest and head. DuHavre got back up and caught up with the Troopmon who was crawling away for his life. The human put a bullet through his head, brain matter and blood splashed on the concrete floor.

Brutal close quarter combat ensued afer the initial charge. Men and Digimon fought each other with professional strikes and equally savage blows. In this sort of hectic, chaotic environment, anything and everything is permitted if it means you alive and your opponent lying dead on the ground. No matter the amount or level of training an individual has, the survival instinct is crucial and the one that will direct his moves. It's kill or be killed.

Nathan dived on the ground after throwing his frag grenade at the machine gun crew a few feet away from him. The world shook around before sand rained on him. Looking back, the sandbag formation was obliterated and so was the enemy crew. The cries of men and digimon rang into his ears. Drived by his inner survival instinct, he jumped in the destroyed machine gun nest and took a firing stance. His FAMAS drawn up, he swirved to a direction, spotted an enemy, aimed down the sight, pull the trigger, body drops dead, swirve to another direction and rinse and repeat. His rifle runs dry just when a Sealsdramon angrily charges at him. He tries to reload quickly but instead decided to throw the weapon at his foe. The digimon staggered after receiving it to the chest. Searching around frantically, Nathan found a rock and threw it at the digimon once more. Frustrated, Sealsdramon jumped at the human. The two of them were fighting on the ground for dominance over the other. Nathan was fast enough to pin one arm to the ground before he could reach for his combat knife. Sealsdramon replied with a solid punch across his face. He kicked the human off of him and pulled his knife out.

At the same time, Nathan drew his out. They were mere a couple of feet from each other. Nathan was afraid, not only was this his first time face-to-face with the enemy but he hated CQC, considered too uncivilized and brutal for his liking, he was not looking forward for the day when he has to face the enemy up this close and personal. As for Sealsdramon, he was confident due to experience and trained to be an expert in hand-to-hand combat, his Digimon-line was made for this.

The digimon was faster, better, stronger. In a second, he disarmed the human, punched him on the chest and flipped him on the ground as hard as he can. And now he was on top of him, seconds away from driving the blade into the human's skull. Saved by the Heavens, three bullets hit the digimon center mass. With a pained gasp, Sealsdramon dropped the knife before falling on the ground lifelessly.

Nathan exhaled happily and looked up to his savior. It was none other but Lieutenant Dubois.

"Get up, boy, there is still an island to take." The officer urged him before leading his troops to capture File Island 5.

The battle halted in late afternoon. The coalition has managed to capture already half of the archipelago. The moans of the wounded echoed through the island, carried on stretchers by medics and troopers, they were transported to the main beachhead, at File Island 2, where they will be evacuated by APC or by helicopter. As for those who are still alive and standing, they were tasked to refortify the defences while some others were tasked on guard duty.

Nathan poured some water on his messy face, relieving the heat and clean up some of the dried up blood and grime on him.

"Listen up!" Adressed the Chief Sergeant to the platoon, "I want two men for each fox hole, three hour rotation for overwatch. Keep your heads low and asses lower."

"Yes, Chief Sergeant!" They all replied unanimously.

* * *

His stomach growled loudly, demanding food and fast. With a groan, Nathan punched himself on the stomach to "suppress" the hunger. The MRE was still cooking in the bag, a minute more and _à table_.

"Really, dude," Jerome said with a sly grin, "Didn't you eat for lunch?"

"Shut up, fat ass," Nathan shot back, "I was more worried about me living than my stomach complaining. And since when did _you_ eat for lunch?"

"Right after we captured Island 3, found a spot near the coast and pop a MRE up." His friend answered truthfully and proudly, "A hungry soldier is an ineffective soldier."

"Yeah, right. It was more because you have a bad habit of eating every ten fucking minutes."

"Sure, dude, keep complaining." Jerome said off-handedly before he opened a small pack of chocolate biscuits, a smile etched on his face as he consumes the pack of _"Le Petit LU"_.

"Fat ass..." Nathan retorted dryly.

"Heard that."

Nathan was about to take his now cooked MRE when suddenly he heard water moving unnaturally. He urged Jerome to stop eating before he picked up his FAMAS and puts on the NVGs. In the dead of night, everything was quiet. Nathan scanned carefully his surroundings, his guts were screaming at him that something was wrong. And his stomach is still complaining that it doesn't have any food in it yet.

After two long minutes of silence, Jerome sat back in the fox hole and continued to eat his meal.

"Come on, Nathan, you are tired AND hungry. You must be imagining things." He said, trying to reason with his half starved friend.

"I would gladly agree with you if my guts aren't screaming at me right now..."

"I think your stomach is asking for-"

His sentence was cut off when projectiles snapped just above their heads. The two soldiers ducked their heads down when mortar shells rained on their position. The French Marines were awaken by the sudden attack and scrambled to fire back. At the corner of his view, Nathan could see a large group of legionaires rushing through the land bridge towards them.

"Fuck! Hostiles on the bridge!" He shouted as loud as possible.

"Enemy to our 12! I want Minimis on the bridge!" Ordered the Chief Sergeant as he runs across friendly lines, giving orders to the platoon.

"Kilo 1-1, this is Delta 2-actual! I want a mortar strike on the land bridge! Fire everything you've got!" Demanded Lieutenant Dubois through the radio.

Nathan has already gone through three whole mags in the first five minutes since the firefight began. The bright flashes of enemy fire disturbed his vision through the NVGs, he took them off and proceeded to fire at the land bridge. Jerome hauled over the AT-4, he warned Nathan to keep his head low before firing the launcher. The rocket jerked up, the backblast covered them in sand and thick smoke. The rocket sailed forward and hit a hundred meters away from them, water shot upward violently while several digimon cried in pain.

Red and green tracer rounds flew in every direction. The FN Minimis and a couple of stationary Browning HMGs gunned down the incoming infantry wave, obliterating the foot soldiers to shreds, pieces and to a bloody and gore pulp. That night, the sea bled profusely the deep crimson liquid.

"First platoon! Pull back to the second line!" Ordered Dubois urgently, "To the trenches! NOW!"

"Let's go, Nathan!" Jerome yelled while going out of their fox hole.

Nathan fired a couple of shots more before he got out. His body was hunched over, making as small of a target as possible to protect himself from enemy projectiles and shells. The sand was unforgiving as it was constantly shot up before raining down on the French troopers. Ahead of him was Jerome who kept running until he stopped for a moment to yell something at him. Words didn't come out of his mouth, instead it was blood that spurted out. A lance-like projectile struck him center mass, the sharpened edge sticking out on the other side of his torso. Jerome fell with a heap, his lifeless body twitching the last signs of life he had left.

Without thinking, Nathan ran and slid next to him. Taking off his right glove, he placed his fingers on Jerome's neck, the pulses were still beating, though faintly.

"Medic! MEDIC! Joel! Over here!" Nathan waved his arms up at Chief Corporal and combat medic Joel Yvon.

"Fuck, Nathan, he's fucked up!" The medic said angrily as the both of them dragged Jerome's body back to the trenches, under heavy enemy fire.

"I checked his pulses, he's still alive!"

"He won't be in a few minutes!"

"You don't know THAT!"

Once in the trenches, Joel did his best to find a way to stabilize Jerome. However his observations concluded that his efforts were futile, Jerome will be dead in seconds.

"Sorry, dude, he's gone." He stated sadly. He gave a small pat of Nathan's shoulder before running off to another crying soldier.

Nathan stared at his friend's lifeless body. Friendly air and artillery strikes could be heard over the trenches but he just ignored them, shocked that he lost another friend. Stoically, he closed Jerome's eyes.

"Come on, men! Let them eat lead!" Encouraged Lieutenant Dubois through the sounds of gunfire. "Make them bleed!"

The French Marines of Second Platoon were gunning down the remaining Imperial forces on their turf, now backed up by VABs, VBCIs and Eurocopter Tigre attack helicopters, showering the enemy with 68mm rockets and 30mm rounds of death. The Imperials were powerless against their firepower, they have lost before the fight even began. Meanwhile, the Digimon Allies use the opportunity to strike at File Island 1.

The night battle lasted throughout the whole evening and early morning, the French have successfully held their grounds, their allies destroyed enemy artillery units on the main island and secured a foot hold for the upcoming assault on the mountain. However, the friendly bombardments on the land bridge in the attempt to halt the attack destroyed their only access on foot to File Island 1, meaning that the French will have to take the risk to cross the water front with the amphibious assault vehicles.

And so, day two of the operation began.


	2. Chapter 2

****The Battle of the File Archipelago****

 _ _ **(August 3rd 2018-August 6th 2018)**__

 _ _Day 2__

Morning began and hell broke loose once again. The battle began as soon as the first daylight came up. The French Marines had quickly embarked on their APCs while the Jungle Troopers and Deep Savers secured a beachhead for them. The fight for File Island 1 will be long and hard, they all knew that.

Once the vehicles hit the sands, the infantry got out, reinforcing the beachhead for the others. The soldiers were greeted with the terrifying sounds of the rail guns, shooting at the other islands and their troop carriers, trying to cut them off from their own supplies and support. The Imperials had the higher grounds, deep in-trenched and heavily defended with small bunkers and firing positions.

"Secure the beachhead!"

Nathan dived on the sand, barely missing several incoming enemy fire. The fine and white sand was now stained with the blood of the dead and wounded, constant screams and gunshots echoed in the air. The trooper crawled his way forward, away from the beachhead and into the fray; either die helplessly on the beach or die fighting your way up.

Joining the others at the peak of the dunes, he racked charging handle of his Famas and fired a couple of shots. Others followed suit, firing at will under their commander's orders. Ahead of the French were the Jungle Troopers' Marines, acting as the vanguard of the invasion force, taking most of the brunt of enemy fire.

A loud electric whir caught their attention. Looking up at the mountain, they watched with fear and dread as one of the rail guns slowly pointed its cannon at the beach. Its sparks quickly intensefied as it prepared to unleash a violent strike.

Thunderclaps and thunderous explosions intervened behind the infantry Marines. Three Leclerc Battle tanks arrived at the coast and immediately targeted the rail gun turret. The cavalry have arrived in the form of three 58 tonnes war machines, courtesy of the 12thRégiment de Cuirassiers. The previous rail gun took massive hits, the cannon destroyed, unable to lash out its ammunation and exploded internally, consuming the four-digimon crewmembers in its spectacular and thermal implosion. The shockwave could be felt throughout the entire island, kicking up sand and dust while some palm trees near the fort were cut to pieces.

With heavy support on their side, the Jungle Troopers cheered at the humans before making a frontal charge at the disturbed enemy line. From the beach, the VBCIs and Leclerc tanks provided suppresive fire, the 20mm rounds did quick work with the hostile foot soldiers while the 120mm HEAT shells obliterated the fortifications. In addition with their superior firepower, the tanks are integrated with unique auto-loading systems, increasing their rate of fire significantly.

While supported by land, the coalition force is also supported by air and sea. From the sea, the Deep Savers' Assault Regiment provided close-artillery fire, able to pin down enemy trenches with a wide assortment of conventional and "digital" ammunations.

From the air, a squadron of Tigre attack helicopters from the 1st Combat Helicopter Regiment suppressed the enemy front by raining down lethal doses of 30mm rounds. The imperial troopers were helpless against the air force, they weren't quick enough to retaliate. Digimon were dismembered and utterly destroyed by the powerful rounds; few were resilient enough to be wounded, and even so, they would have preferred a quick death rather than a long and painful one.

With the enemy force pinned and pounded by the combined arms, the Jungle Trooper Marines further pushed upwards, gaining more terrain and in the process of capturing the first trench line.

"Let's go, men! We're pushing up!" Ordered their captain courageously, ignoring the bullets flying near him as he was standing out of cover.

As ordered the soldiers got out of cover and went up the mountain with their digimon allies. The terrain was steep, irregular and deadly. Projectiles were constantly flying in every direction. High explosive shells and missiles rained down on the battlefield, the cannons' thunderous fire rang constantly in the archipelago. Deafening whistles of death alerted the soldiers in the field to cover before the ground shook violently.

The VBCIs continued to lay down suppressive fire, spreading bursts of 12.7mm rounds and 20mm rounds at the mountain. Joining the infantry were the VABs, controling the island's only dirt road leading to the fort. Meanwhile the tanks held their ground, targeting the fort to pin enemy machine gun positions.

The human soldiers advanced quickly up the mountain, wiping out any remaining resistance, clearing out the first trench line before moving on the second one. What they lack in profenciency in hand-to-hand combat, against digimon opponents, was greatly compensated with their firearms and combined arms tactics. Human weaponry has always had a slight edge in lethality and accuracy compared to their digimon counterpart.

Nathan's rifle barked in short, rapid bursts, each burst connected to their target, center mass, enough to kill or injure them. What takes a combattant out of the fight is enough for any human soldier. A second squadron of tanks arrived to the shores and pounded the fortress, restricting the enemy units to fire down upon their allies.

Gunfire, artillery shot, moans and cries of the wounded, bullets flying and explosions erupting, all rang painfully in his ears as he manoeuvres around the chaotic battleground, waving and miraculously avoiding flying lethal projectiles while following Sergeant Manara's lead through the second trench.

Suddenly he felt a powerful force pounding him to the ground to his right. Surprised and now gasping for air, he looked up to his assailant, choking him to his eventual death. He was a WereGarurumon, covered in blood and mud, the canine's face had a large wound across his snout and left eye, gauging out blood. His left arm was burnt to a crisp and his torso had several holes flooding the dark crimson liquid that formed thick rivers on his tainted fur. Trying to fight off the large bipedal wolf, Nathan managed to get on top of his adversary after one of his strikes hit his wounded left eye. Now with the upperhand, he took out his combat knife lunged for the digimon's heart. WereGarurumon caught just in time with his burnt arm while the other tried to choke the human again. The power struggle lasted a few seconds, seconds that felt like hours; Nathan swiped the blade across the wounded forearm, making the wolf cry in agony before swiftly plunging the knife in the throat.

His body spazzed uncontrollably, his face written with fear as he gasped for air and coughing out large amount of blood before slowly dying and disappear in a cloud of data. During this horrific scene, Nathan had to watch his opponent's death right before his eyes, staring at his eyes blankly, against his own will. With a gasp, he sat dazily on the duckboards, panting heavily as the adrenaline rush fades away. The hand now holding the bloodied knife trembled slightly. He gathered his composure and retrieved his FAMAS. The battle isn't over yet, and so the mission continues.

Minutes later, after the enduring, harsh and dangerous climb, clearing one defensive line after another, the French Infantry Marines and the Jungle Troopers reached the fort. The air strikes were very effective. Pools of blood and military equipment lay scattered on the cobblestone floor, indicating the spots where digimon fell to the attack helicopters' devastating attacks. The fortress was completely disfigured thanks to the combined artillery and air strikes of the coalition forces. Only one rail gun turret was spared from the destruction, the others were unretrivable and beyond repair.

They were given a small moment to breathe but soon after the soldiers are going to storm in the Imperial military complex.

"Frag out!" Announced Manara before tossing the handgrenade in the entrance tunnel.

The squad backed away and awaited for the explosion. The tunnel shook violently, the shockwave sent light vibrations on the metal door. Opening the door, black smoke puffed out, obscuring the soldiers' vision. Corporal Chief Alexandre Lettier led the assault team, flashlight on and weapon drawn and ready to shoot on sight. Gun powder filled the air in the concrete corridor, dust cloud lowered their visibility and stinging their eyes. At the end of the corridor was a stair case that led down to a large open space. The area had three other corridors: front, left and right, all led to a different part of the military cave complex. As the squads dispersed to overwatch each corridor, Manara looked around the area to find some sort of indication to where these corridors lead to. Meanwhile more troops poured in and awaited further commands. Eventually, Lieutenant Dubois arrived just in time for Manara to finally find a map screwed on the stone wall.

"Any idea where these hallways lead to, Sergeant?"

"Yes, my Lieutenant. Left one leads to the armoury, front leads further deep in the base and the right one leads to a serie of living quarters and a mess hall." Manara reported dutifully.

With a nod the platoon commander informed the other platoons and instructed several squads to certain corridor. He, along with two squads, will clear the barracks and the mess hall.

First squad was at the lead with second squad and Dubois just behind. The group moved cautiously, the dim corridor unnerved them, expecting at any time some kind of ambush from the enemy. Later they found themselves in a hallway with a row of eight doors lined up on each side of the hallway. The wooden doors had a four-digit number sign on top of them, indicating the dorm's number. The two squads split up and took one side, clearing each dorm methodically. They were empty, most of them. After going halfway through the row however, a light 'thud' was heard at the end of the hallway. One of the soldiers looked down and swore loudly.

"GRENADE!"

Everyone jumped to cover, inside the empty dorm rooms before the handgrenade exploded. Nathan jumped in the room just in time but the initial blast fogged his senses, his ears were only hearing muffled noises, voices and 'bangs' could barely be recognized. Looking back at the hallway, he spotted fiery strobes of light flying left and right. He knew what was happening, it was an ambush.

Another French soldier crawled his way in, his right leg badly injured. Without thinking, Nathan got up and helped his fellow brother-in-arm, lifting him and putting him at a safe corner of the room. The soldier was a Corporal, from First Squad.

Seconds later, the voices were clearer and gunfire filled the hallway. He could hear French yelling and the enemy shouting. More explosions shook the hallway of dorms, the enemy was relentless. Cursing himself, Nathan sat up and lifted his FAMAS to his right shoulder, aiming the doorway, ready to protect the wounded soldier. A Commandramon got in, thinking it was clear, completely oblivious to the two troopers on the ground a mere two meters away, one was aiming his weapon at his head. Nathan pulled the trigger, three shots connected to his target's skull. A distinct metallic 'ping' resonated before he fell with a heavy thud.

The firefight was still going on. Nathan crawled his way to the door frame while the other wrapped a tourniquet above his wound to stop the bleeding. Peeking out at the other end of the hallway, enemy troops were slowly advancing. Fortunately, they were focused on the others at the other end than to him. He took out his last frag grenade and tossed it at the group. He heard one of them screaming before being silenced by the grenade. But that didn't stop the enemy, more were pouring in around the corner, outgunning the French Infantry Marines.

Nathan fired a couple of shots around the corner, immediately pinned down in response by a hail of enemy fire. He heard his fellow soldiers backing away and the enemy getting closer towards him. He crawled back in the dorm, sitting on the dark corner next to the Corporal and waited for them to go in the dorm. Hopefully they weren't wearing any NVGs or other gadgets that could help them see better in the dark.

Enemy troops passed their room, until a group of three cautiously went in the dorm. If he was going to die here, at least he will die fighting. The Corporal shouldered his FAMAS, slowly racking the charging handle to minimise any noice. They both silently shook each other's hands and bid good luck. Nathan adjusted his red dot sight at the doorway and waited, his breathing calm and slow.

A Butterflymon was spotted, a burst of three rounds spewed out of the rifle, all three shots connected to his torso, spilling out blood on the doorway and his teammates before falling on the stone cold ground. A gasp escaped and a Galgomon rushed to his aid. Five rounds connected to his spine and ribcages. The gatling gun wielding digimon fell on top of the wounded soldier while the last one, a Sealsdramon rounded the corner at opened fire in the room blindly with a submachine gun. By a miracle, all shots were missed and Nathan fired back but missed his target as well. The wounded Galgomon was about to shoot back but was quickly terminated by the other soldier, shifting his rifle at him and fired more shots. Sealsdramon called out for help to the other imperials.

Nathan cursed and leaned to the side to get a better eyesight on the digimon. His leg poked out, he pulled the trigger, two shots hit their mark, the third scraped the concrete wall. It was chaotic in the small dorm. Nathan, fearing that more will come, pulled the lone bed beside him and threw on its side in front of them, using it as a visual cover from the enemy. He quickly reloaded his weapon while the other peeped out behind the bed. An enemy trooper was already pulling the wounded insect digimon to safety. Their hostage was gone, things will get harder for them. Several bright flashes lit up the room, shots zipped passed them, blinding Nathan's eyes behind the NVGs. Cursing and getting desperate, he fired back blindly. The exchange of fire went on for a couple of long seconds, the imperials were taking light casualties by the two stranded French troopers.

"...Fuck..." The Corporal breathed out in amazement.

All of the sudden, an explosion was heard outside the dorm. Imperials were shouting and shots rang out. That was when Nathan realised they were safe, reinforcements have arrived. He peeked out of the bed and fired back, killing two other hostile troops before his rifle was dry.

"Reload-"

A Musyamon let out a ferocious war cry and charge at them, the katana raised above his head and blade pointing at his target. Nathan kicked the bed towards him, the obstacle stalled him and Nathan jumped on him with his combat knife out. The samurai dropped the katana by Nathan's force and the two struggled for dominance. The digimon got the upper hand and strangled the soldier with all of his might. Nathan brought up the knife closer to the opponent's neck which he reflectively blocked it with one arm, giving him a small opportunity. Using all of his strenght, the French soldier pushed the samurai back to the ground, now on top and pinning one arm, he thrusted the blade towards the chest. Musyamon still fought back hard however. He punched the human, disorienting him and kicked him away.

The undead samurai picked up his katana and was about to charge at him when three rounds shot through his chest. His body fell with a heavy 'thud', his sword dropping beside him. Crimson rivers spilled out of armour before the body faded into data particles.

Nathan got up and leaned against the wall, panting heavily and dryly. That was the second time he almost died. After his thumping heart drown out of his ears, he noticed that the firefight outside went silent. This could either be a good or a bad sign. Preparing for the worst, he grabbed his FAMAS and slowly walked to the door frame.

"Johnny!" He shouted in the hallway, hoping for a friendly response.

"Hallyday!" A French Marine answered close to him. He sighed in relief. "Don't shoot at the back, friendlies over here! I have a wounded in here!" Nathan warned as he waved his left arm out.

Two French troopers with NVGs took a peek around the corner and spotted him. Nathan laughed in relief as the others helped him and the injured Corporal out of the dorm, patting his back in reassurance. Lieutenant Dubois walked up to him with relief on his face.

"Glad you made it, son."

"Thank you, my Lieutenant," Nathan replied happily before he looked at the other troopers around him, "Uh, where is the rest of my squad?" At that, Dubois frowned and sighed sadly.

"They... didn't make it, Nathan, they were the first to fall from the initial ambush." He reported grimly.

"What?"

"I thought you were killed. That ambush massacred our forces. I'm sorry, Nathan."

The trooper stood in stunned silence. His entire squad was wiped out, his friends killed, the men he bonded with that became his brothers, gone. Sergeant Manara, the one who helped him get through certain hardships, gone. A heavy weight was felt on his shoulders and a pang of grief and guilt stung his heart, a headache soon followed suit. He was the lone survivor.

"Do you want to go back to the surface?" Dubois expressed his concern to the PFC.

Nathan's head perked up, "No, sir, I wish to continue." He requested coldly. Dubois felt bad but they needed as much men down here as possible. With a defeated and regretful sigh, he assigned Nathan to another squad and continued to venture in the tunnel complex.

"Alright, soldiers, let's move out and be done with it quickly!" Chief Sergeant Chevallier bellowed sternly as he leads the platoon.

They've reached the mess hall, flashlights lighting up the large empty area. The men spreaded out, scanning each nook and cranny to avoid another ambush. The place was trashed, tables, seats, plates and ustensils were scattered around, the men concurred that the enemy left the place in a hurry. After a thorough search, the mess hall and kitchen was cleared.

They continued further deep into the mountain, the air still and quiet. The sound of their boots on the damp concrete floor echoed painfully loudly in the corridor, the men were beginning to worry about it. The corridor was surprisingly steep, evident by the fact that some of them almost slipped up by the sudden descent.

Finally, at the end of the long corridor they found themselves in a large open area. It seemed like some sort of dock or loading area for supplies, indicated by numerous steel beams, metal walkways crossing above the canals, metallic crates and vacant rubber motor boats present beside the concrete platform at the center. Four canals connected and surrounded the platform, coming from four different paths. Upon further inspection, they noticed that they came from large steel floodgates, probably built just below the mountain and well hidden by the natural blend of rocky formations and local foliages.

Stepping forth, the platoon was waved by another platoon a few meters away to their left, coming out of another corridor. The two platoons stood on a smaller platform, a single walkway connected to the main square platform at the center.

The other platoon volunteered to cross first, Dubois's men took their positions to provide overwatch for them. Once the platoon was on the platform, Dubois led the men while the others secured the area. Concluding by the fact that the area was cleared, the French soldiers began opening the metallic crates carefully. What they've found was a gold mine. Weapons, ammunations, medical supplies and lots and lots of explosives, ranging from anti-personnel mines and fragmentation grenades to the imposing anti-vehicle rockets and artillery shells. There were even "special" typed missiles: plasma, EMP, incendiary, gas and more that could only be defined to the humans as witchcraft. But among these crates was one that stunned them for the worst.

As they broke apart the padlocks, Nathan and another trooper opened the crate with black and red hazard symbol on the sides. Inside there were dozens of piled up crates carrying "rail ammunations", the same ones used on the automated turrets but at the center laid a single and heavily armoured box. Walking towards it cautiously, they inspected it warily, searching for any indication for what it was. Nothing. Hesitant, Nathan called his platoon commander for an order, not wanting to blow himself and the others by accident.

"Sir, I think we've found some sort of WMD," Nathan reported nervously, "What should we do?"

"Open it." He simply ordered.

With a nod, he and the other trooper slowly and gently opened the container's heavy steel lid. In it, stored in comfy foam cases were three missiles at an arm's length. On each of them were red bold "X" markings on the olive drab shell.

"Oh putain..." One of the soldiers in the back said.

"A-Are those nukes?" A sergeant asked with worry.

"Doesn't seem like it," Chief Sergeant noted next to Dubois, "But I haven't seen anything like it before."

"Whatever it is, we have to secure them." Dubois stated firmly, "Inform the Captain. I want men to carry the rail ammunations and these WMDs, carefully!" He ordered to the rest of his platoon.

The troopers hurried to carry as much ammunation as possible. "Spectre 1, this is Spectre 1-1, we've have a stockpile of conventional weapons, ammunations and supplies, what are your orders? How copy?"

 _"Repeat-*static* having some-*static*-"_ He closed the line and opted to tell the Captain personally. "Chief Sergeant! I'm leaving you in charge of the platoon and hold this stockpile!"

"Yes, sir!" Chevallier saluted sharply. Meanwhile the other platoon, Third platoon, crossed to the other side to scout out the other end of the cave.

Minutes passed eversince then, the platoon under Popeye's command took cover behind the crates in silence. Only the small natural waves of water echoed in the cave. There were some occasional coughs from the soldiers but nothing more.

A soldier merely observed the water, admiring its gentle and pearly blue colour but then he noticed it moved movement agitated frequently as it somehow moved towards the platform. Before he could speak out his concern to the others, a bubble like object shot out into the air and falling next to him. His survival and training instincts kicked in: rule number one in the Digital Front, never trust something by its appearance and assume the worst. Assuming the worst he did. He kicked the bubble-like object back into the water before ducking for cover.

"BOMB!" He yelled before water violently erupted upwards, raining the nearby soldiers.

"AMBUSH! CHECK THE WATERS!" The Chief Sergeant shouted sternly and opened fire once he spotted a Divermon coming out of the water.

Sporatic fire ensued in the cave, the gunfire echoed loudly in the area as the men hurriedly shot the water once they spot a figure in the water. They immediately noticed that they were outnumbered and now surrounded by the aquatic force.

Third platoon was also caught under enemy fire, the two platoons were caught off from each other.

Another "bubble bomb" was thrown at them by a passing Depthmon. This time the French troopers didn't have enough time to throw it away.

"BOMB!"

The men dived for cover, the bubble detonated engulfing two soldiers in its blaze. More Divermon then jumped onto the platform and charged at them.

"Contact to our left!" Third Squad's Sergeant warned before he took a harpoon through his chest.

Nathan quickly spun around and fired multiple bursts at the marine digimon, half a dozen fell to their deaths in seconds. More troops joined in to push them back in the waters. He struck his rifle's buttstock across a Divermon's face before kicking him away and fired two shots center mass. The digimon cried in agony as he fell back into the water. Little by little, the soldiers found themselves surrounded, taking three more loses and four severe woundeds.

Soon, a grueling close quarters battle ensued on the platform. Rifles barked, bodies fell, and later combat knives were used. Those who manned the Minimis were fortunate to take out dozens of hostiles, letting their weapons spew out hails of hot lead.

Nathan sliced the Divermon's neck, blood rained on the ground, before he tackled another one that charged at the Chief Sergeant. These imperial troops were easier to handle in CQC, he had already personally killed five of them before he could switch back to his FAMAS. The Divermon were no match against their weapons, their scales weren't strong enough to halt 5.56mm rounds, the bullets punctured easily into their flesh and fell quickly to the Marines' blades.

"Shit! Fall back! We're no match against them! Run!" One of the Divermon shouted at their comrades.

They quickly scattered back into the water, dragging their woundeds with them. The fighting didn't end there however. Third platoon fought their way back, linking back up with Second platoon. Superior in firepower, the infantry Marines gunned down the incoming enemy force. Their weapons echoed loudly in the cave, the bullet casings dropping small melodical 'pings' in the chaotic and loud orchestra of rifle and machine gun fire.

The muzzle flashes were brighter in the dimmed area, blinding the enemy as they were unable to respond. It was soon their turn to fall back.

The men thought the battle was over however a large thud contradicts their hopes. Coming out of the water and stepping onto the platform was a large aquatic creature. It towered over the soldiers with its long members and tentacles. Its three blood red eyes stared down at them with a malicious, toothy smile. Its two tentacles launched themselves at the troopers as it swiped its massive claws around while letting out a terrifying maniacal laugh.

"Guilty Black!" Black grotesque looking ink shot out of its mouth, envelopping two unfortunate soldiers. The two of them fell on their knees, unable to move or stand. "Neck Hanging!" The two tentacles grabbed the helpless soldiers and crushed them with brute force. A rain of gore and blood washed over the terrified troopers, witnessing two of their fellow brother-in-arms killed in the most horrible way.

The MarineDevimon continued his onslaught, slashing and crushing his preys. Their bullets merely scraped the Ultimate-level digimon. Nathan aimed for his eyes and fired a couple of shots, effectively disrupting the digimon but angered him even more. In response, he received a powerful slap from one of his massive tentacles. Nathan felt his body launched to the air before harshly hitting his back against a crate. He let out a pained gasp once he hit the ground. Wincing as he sat up uncomfortably, he felt his back throbbing with immense pain. Desperate to get back in the fight, he crawled to the side to pick up his rifle. The screams and cries of his fellow Marines rang in his ears, filling him with a sense of guilt and desperation, hopeless to help them.

Gradually he managed to grasp his FAMAS and rolled to his back. The red dot sight adjusted towards MarineDevimon, the dot hovered on his chest. The monster picked up the badly injured Chief Sergeant. The digital beast was covered from head-to-toe in human blood, guts and entrails were strewn around the platform, men lay on the cold concrete either dead, wounded and in extreme pain, or gone insane, too traumatised to fight back. For those who are fortunate enough to be spared quickly grabbed the wounded and dragged them out of the platform.

His left arm trembled violently but his will steeled over. With a dry breath, he inhaled and held it. His right index slowly pulling the trigger. A three-round burst shot out of the barrel furiously, hitting their target at center mass.

MarineDevimon let out a irritated growl and dropped the wounded NCO down, slowly making his way towards Nathan. His blood red eyes glared at the lone soldier, his throat emitting a ferocious growl while bearing his bloodied sharp teeth.

Three more shots came out but did little effect on his, very pissed, target. 'Click' 'click', his rifle went dry. Nathan cursed under his breath and reloaded quickly his weapon, ignoring the incoming large monster. After racking the charging handle and pointing the barrel at its objective, he came face-to-face with the digimon, a few meters away from each other.

Nathan glared back in defiance, his fingers ready to fight back. "Come on, do your worst!" He taunted boldly. Though he knew he was going to die, he planned on taunting the digimon as long as possible to buy his comrades enough time to escape and regroup.

The aquatic demon emitted a maniacal laugh, echoing eerily in the cave. "A bold idiot, I will gladly crush you to a pulp and decorate this place with your gu-"

Then a loud eruption resonated suddenly, followed by a high pitched sail. The marine devil looked to the right and took a missile to his face. The blast exploded and burned the head along with half of the torso. Nathan felt relief as he was saved just in time by the others before everything went black.

With fury and determination, the French Marsouins unleashed a hellfire of lead. The bullets teared through the digimon's weakened scales and flesh, the dark blue blood spluttered on the ground, mixing sickly with the burgundy blood.

The body disappeared into a data cloud before it hit the ground. The company of French troopers moved in, securing the platform before it split into three platoons.

Dubois watched over the scene with shock and nausea. Like him, some of the soldiers didn't have the stomach to glance at the bloodbath, emptying their breakfast on the ground, while others dreafully collect the dead and the remaining wounded Marines.

"My lieutenant," Called out a soldier. Dubois spun around and faced the platoon's combat medic, "Chief Sergeant Chevallier is... gone. He had his left leg amputated and had severe trauma to the chest and head, he suffered from internal bleeding, punctured organs and broken bones." The medic reported grimly.

"Thank you for the report, Corporal." The Lieutenant saluted, the medic replied with the same gesture before resuming with his tasks.

As the men proceeded with extracting the dead and wounded out back to the surface, Captain Lebel was overseeing his men. He spotted Lieutenant Dubois among the men and strided beside him.

"How many have we lost?"

"Twenty... maybe more," Dubois let out a frustrated sigh, "Fuck, this is a nightmare... I hope this island is worth it." He added with a tint of anger in his voice.

"It will, Lieutenant," Began the Captain, "Without this island, the enemy can't control the waters nor could they obtain easily their... more special supplies." Dubois hummed in agreement.

"That is true, my Captain, three nukes now out of their grasps."

"Exactly... this should give our forces a better advantage in supply lines and naval support." Added Lebel while formaly placing his hands behind his back. "We will leave this base to the digimon before 1800 hours. Then next stop, the city of Majuula."

"Already?" Dubois asked with a chuckle.

"Well of course! Anything with a beach to capture is up to the Infantry Marines." Stated Lebel with fake enthusiasm.

The sun was slowly setting as the French Infantry Marines waited patiently for the transport helicopters. The digimon of the coalition had already set up their camp at the base of the mountain.

Exhausted and hungry, the men calmly ate their combat rations, friendly idle chatter and laughter echoed in the warm tropical air. The men exchanged certain food for another with each other, a meal for a meal, a Commando bar for a soup packet...

Nathan coughed dryly as his chinese shrimp and chicken soup was heating up. He covered his nose from the pungent and foul stench of the fire. His new squadmates did the same as their meals were being heated also. Some of them even chuckled at the sight of soldiers, sat in a circle with their nose covered.

While waiting for his soup to cook, Nathan played with his match box out of boredom, he flipped the carton box around, staring mindlessly at the black and white images of the Eiffel Tower and of the Arc de Triomphe.

Soon after he took his metal spoon and slowly stirred the soup before carefully pulling it out of the small fire kit. A thick cloud of smoke shot out from the fire, hitting Nathan once again with the horrible.

He coughed a couple of times before taking a small sip from his camelbak. Silently, he ate his asian soup while his new "squadmates" talked with each other animatedly.

A soldier sat beside him, a metal spoon on one hand while the other held his meal, the young man sat cross-legged and let out a sigh.

"Nathan, right?" He asked with a friendly tone.

Nathan nodded in response. The other Marine offered his right hand, "Name's Kurtis." He greeted with a smile.

Nathan quietly shook his hand and resumed eating his soup. Kurtis shrugged and ate his meal. After a couple of moments of silence, Nathan finally spoke up.

"You know you're going to get a stomachache with the mexican salad." He said as a matter-of-fact.

"It's better than menu 7 at least." Kurtis shot back with a grin, "This is actually my third one." He added almost proudly.

Nathan, on the other hand, stared at him with worried eyes, "You're going to regret those soon." He warned him ominously.

As if on cue, Kurtis's stomach growled loudly and instinctively, he clenched his butt. He dropped his meal and held his stomach. Another growl came, twisting his inside.

"Oh fuck!" Was his last words before he dashed away for a nearby bush; his squad and friends laughed uncontrolably.

While the humans at the top of the mountain were enjoying their small break, some soldiers were sent to the beaches to maintain the vehicles and patrol the coast with several digimon troopers.

Brigadier Emilien Baska, part of the reconnaissance squadron of the 12thRegiment de Cuirassiers, had his eyes set of the peaceful beach of the island, admiring the view and enjoying the cool afternoon breeze.

That said, he wished to continue his sight seeing but he has a job to do. Behind him, waiting inside the Vehicule Blindée Léger, were his teammates. Maréchal des logis ("Sergeant" in the Cavalry) Lucas Maëlle was on the radio with the other recon teams. PFC. Adrien Vallette was on the 12.7mm machine gun turret, scanning their surroundings.

"Baska!" The team leader called him loudly, "We're moving out! Hurry your ass up!"

As ordered, Emilien jogged towards the VBL and hopped on the driver's seat. The light recon vehicle roared to life, the doors closed shut. The vehicle stirred and drove off, kicking off sand and dust behind its path.

"Listen up, we'll be joining Golf-3 to the south, apparently they've found something... interesting."

"'Interesting'? How so?" Asked Vallette with growing curiosity.

"We'll see it later, private."

Once arriving to destination, the squad disembark and were stunned to see a large vault door built into the face of the mountain. Joining Golf-3 were two other recon squads, awaiting for further orders. Golf-3 took four prisonners; Troopmon, their weapons confiscated and hands binded behind their back.

As per usual, the undead soldiers remained silent, their slow breathing being the only sound they were capable to however was their lifeless stare at the door, their eyes were directed at the metallic vault as if expecting something to happen.

The squad leader of Golf-3, Maréchal des logis Bappé, was interrogating the prisonners but entirely failed, not a single word had been pronounced, not even a threat or an insult.

"What have we got, Bappé?" Maëlle asked as he inspects the vault door.

"Nothing,* _sigh_ *, this is problematic..." He stood back up and stared back at the menacing vault door, "We found them guarding this vault, whatever it is inside, they really want to keep it out of plain sight." He guessed nonchalantly.

"Do you think there are any weapons inside there?" Asked the squad leader of Golf-4, his hand barely touched the smooth seamless steel door.

"What should we do then?" Vallette chimed in, letting out an amazed whistle at the sight.

"I've contacted the chief to send some guys for the prisonners." Informed Bappé, "We should wait until then before we can do something."

The others agreed and walked back to their vehicles when suddenly they heard a faint roar from within the mountain. Everyone got startled and were on edge, weapons up and eyes scurring for any suspecious activity. A demonic and hollow bleat echoed within the mountain, the soldiers turned their heads towards the vault door.

Then a violent 'bang' shook the massive structure. Something was ramming itself out. The ramming became more aggressive and with increasing force. The vault slowly starts to bend outward, the metal creaking and groaning under the merciless and ceaseless rammings.

The French Marines hurried to get behind their vehicles and aimed their weapons at the door, a couple of AT-4s pointed at the same direction. They waited nervously for the vault to break open.

Multiple faint howls and feral growls could be heard in addition of the rammings and hollow bleat; it was certain that there were more who wanted out of their imprisonment.

Eventually the door gave out from the harsh and brutal beatings it received. It fell with a loud 'thumb', crushing the ground with itenormous size and weight.

A light mist came out of the ominous and dark cavern. The smell was horrible, the smell of decay and death was heavy for some Marines, some gagged and covered their nose.

A beast soon walked out of the mist. It was a tall and intimidating creature, covered in dark violet fur and sickening white pale skin. The creature was a humanoid ram with black featherless wings, a pair of gigantic horns. It wore over its torso an ebony chestplate with a crimson demonic pentagram carved onto it.

Its two blood red eyes examined the humans below it with hatred and a predatory gaze. Its massive hands slowly curled into fists, slightly shaking with uncontrollable rage and eager violence.

Following behind it were a couple of much smaller beasts. Red skin and covered with brown fur, their lifeless eyes looked around the environment, their malicious and hysterical smiles growing wider once their empty bloody orbs laid on the humans, sensing their fear, making them drool, hungry for their souls.

Fear was their nectar, and they shall have a grand feast upon it.

The giant ram creature, known as Mephismon, cracked his neck, the muscles snapping. A wry smile etched of his goat face.

"Kill them!" He commanded to his cohort of Wendimon.

"Open fire!" Maëlle shouted before the wendigo digimon charged at them.

Sporatic gunshots and blood-curling screams silenced the whole company of men on top of the mountain.

Confusion spread amongst the men, some were apprehensive and started to don back their combat gear. Soon everyone quickly grabbed their helmets and rifles, preparing to defend themselves for an upcoming ambush.

The NCOs barked orders while the platoon commanders tried to get any information on the situation below.

The communication traffic was filled with panic reports and confusion. They were in disarray and caught off-guard by a surprise attack.

The fighting below the fort increased in intensity and ferocity. Avian digimon could be seen moving out in towards the fighting.

"Sergeant, what the fuck is happening down there?" Asked a _marsouin_ with apprehension in his voice.

"We're under attack that's what matters." The sergeant quickly replied, shutting him up.

A beastial howl was heard from within the fort. The soldiers spun around, uncertainty gripped their minds.

Collectively, they looked around them when all of the sudden a blur of red and brown jumped out of the fort's entrance.

The creature landed with a heavy 'thud' and instantly lashed out of the nearest Marines. Screams and sporatic gunshots rang in the air.

The ferocious beast swung its massive arms at the humans, crushing their internal organs and bones with its raw strenght and force. Its smile growing wider and laughed hysterically.

Bullets punctured its flesh but did little affect to slow it down. The adrenaline allowed it to become bolder and more ferocious.

The French troopers focused on the digimon, firing speeding hot lead at it. Unfortunate troopers were crushed, stomped and thrown around by the mad digimon.

The monster leapt into the air and landed near Nathan's squad. They ran away in panic, few kept firing at it. Nathan quickly backed away as the creature now laid its insane eyes on him.

He was about to turn and run away but was grabbed by the digimon, pulling him to it by his right foot. A surprised yelp escaped his mouth. The monster stared at him like a child playing with a toy.

Nathan struggled to get his FAMAS up, the weapon was hanging on him by its straps. The Wendimon opened its mouth, showing its horrifying teeth and spread its horrid breath.

It was going to eat him. On instinct, Nathan pulled out combat knife and stabbed it on its left eye.

The monster let go off him and howled in pain. He hit the ground with a grunt and crawled away.

"Fire at will!" Commanded Lieutenant Dubois, the Marines kept firing at it with cold-blood.

The Wendimon covered itself as it lost its adrenaline flow and surprise advantage. It stumbled backwards and whined in agony. Riddled with bullet holes and covered in its own blood, it fell on its knees and fell to the side. Its data flowed away to the wind.

Just as they were about to breathe in relief, a couple of Marines spotted more Wendimon climbing the face of the mountain for them.

"In position, Marsouins! They are coming for us!"

Firefights and frantic close quarter fights spread across the main island. The coalition forces tried their best to quickly regroup and eliminate the ever growing threat.

An enemy they'll soon find out comes from another world. It will be Hell on Earth.

 _ _Day 3__

Past midnight and the fight still goes on, now spread across File Islands 4 and 5.

The French Marines of 5th Company laid in their fox holes and behind their cover. The fight to push back the creatures out of the fort had been long and hard but now they expect a whole wave of these monsters to charge up the steep face of the mountain.

In the distance, 4th Company and the Jungle Troopers were fighting back the undead creatures, green tracers, bright strobes and explosions whizzed and erupted across the island like a chaotic light spectacle.

Three bright orbs shot into the air overhead the Marines, casting their glow and illuminating the ground.

From there, the French troopers prepared themselves for the fight. Their bodies tensed and breath held, adrenaline pumping through their hearts and muscles, eyes wide open and behind the gun sight, the index finger slowly touching the trigger.

Barely seventy meters in front of them were two dozen Wendimon, sniffing the air for their next fearful preys.

But their preys can fight back with discipline and determination.

Without a single word from their officers, the men automatically opened fire, showering their targets with angry flashing bullets. The first volley of automatic fire decimated the creatures. Walking amongst them was their identified leader, Mephismon.

The demonic goat stared at the soldiers with pure hatred and uncontrollable rage, completely ignoring the flying bullets. In a blur, the hell spawn flew across the battlefield, taking the brunt of the incoming fire.

"Death Cloud!" He roared, generating a dark cloud around himself, corroding everything in its path.

Plants and grass crumpled into lifeless weeds, bushes and trees were extinguished from life, bullets fell short from their intentional targets.

A squad of Marines ran away from cover as both the corrosive cloud and the demonic digimon came towards them.

Mephismon lunged himself onto a soldier, crushing the man with his hooves before grabbing another soldier and tossing him to the cloud.

Like a sentient being, the cloud's maw opened up and swallowed the man, its corrosive ability eating away his skin, flesh and bones. A painful and long death for the unfortunate victim.

Ahead of the Wendimon, Mephismon continued his merciless onslaught on the human soldiers, shrugging off the bullets tearing his flesh apart.

With a click, Nathan's bayonet was fixed on the rifle's barrel. The mad goat demon was getting closer but his movements were getting sloppier, underestimating human firepower.

He lifted the FAMAS to his right shoulder and took aim, the red dot on the demon's chest. He squezzed the trigger, a three-round burst shot out of the barrel at 1000 rounds per minute, easily penetrating Mephismon's natural tough skin.

The goat monster groaned in pain and spun around, facing the human. Nathan fired two more bursts in quick sucession before turning heels and running away. Eyes focused on him, Mephismon flapped his bat-like wings and leapt into the air.

Reaching a certain altitude, he dived head first for his target, his small army of Wendimon did quick work with the rest of the humans.

Flying just overhead the French troopers, Mephismon landed on the ground with a strong pounce, sending a light shockwave around him. His blood red eyes glared at Nathan, snarling furiously.

"Bordel! Just fire the damn thing!" Nathan yelled urgently before diving for cover.

Behind the demon, on top of the mountain, was a lone VBL, its 12.7mm machine gun aimed at his exposed back. As ordered, the gunner fired the heavy weapon, bright red tracers flew out of the barrel and pounded Mephismon's back, destroying his wings into mingled pieces of muscle and skin, and peppering his back with gaping bullet holes, his spine turned to bone dust and he was bleeding profusely.

The devil digimon roared in agony, he w as exposed, weakened and now surrounded, every human soldier around him opened fire unrelentlessly, giving him no room to escape.

Just as he was about to take his chances to fly away, an AT-4 rocket soared the battlefield and struck him on the left side, the rocket crushing his bones and flesh before soon exploding in a fiery blaze, engulfing most of his body in flames.

Only a few remains of his fur and arm was left of him. With the leader dead, the Wendimon were in disarray, quick to fall back only to meet their short end by the tanks on the beaches and the French soldiers on the mountain.

From the skies, attack helicopters and Jungle Trooper Marines mowed and chase down the fleeing monsters without mercy.

The battle was over in half an hour.


	3. Chapter 3

**The Battle of the File Archipelago**

 _ **(August 3rd 2018- August 6th 2018)**_

 _August 5th 2018, File Archipelago, Day 3_

Dark grey smoke plumes rose to the early morning sky.

The Digital sun barely rising over the horizon, casting the beautiful ocean with its light.

The digimon soldiers of the Jungle Troopers and Deep Savers patrolled the islands and sea, order was issued to start building their new base on the archipelago. As for the humans, they were tasked with retrieving their dead and wounded - the few that was left anyway.

The stench of burnt corpses laid heavy in the air. A platoon of French Marines had found the reconaissance teams of the tank regiment; their vehicles were wrecked beyong repair and most of the corpses were barely recognizable.

Accompanying the humans were the Deep Savers medical staff and Jungle Troopers commanders, sent to investigate the now opened vault in the mountain.

Captain Lebel supervised his men before joining the group of digimon commanders. At the head of the group, was First Commander Rosemon. The fairy digimon had a few scratch marks and her left thigh bandaged but she still stood with confidence and beauty.

Next to her was First Major TigerVespamon, her loyal second-in-command and friend. He had seen and fought in many battles, he was a digimon with numerous battle experience; he was both respected and feared by his own troopers. A couple of dents dotted his once prestigious black and gold armour.

Finally behind them and commanding the Elite Guards was Chief Lieutenant Stingmon. Though a Champion-level digimon, her reputation was enough to send shivers down a digimon's spine that stronger than her – level wise. However she is no ordinary Stingmon, she was a former D-Brigade Special Forces and former operator of the Royal Knights' Recon Corps. Years of hardship and gruelling fightings forged her to be one of the most deadliest digimon in the army, earning her a spot as a commanding officer of Ultimate and Mega-level digimon.

Rosemon had her hands clasped behind her back, observing the vault pensively. She took a couple of steps forwards, trying not to step into the puddles of human blood that tainted the white sand.

"I am deeply sorry for the lost of your brave men, Captain. If only our intel was better, we could've avoided this... massacre." Her voice laced with guilt.

"This wasn't your fault, Commander, we didn't expect to see a portal to hell in this island." Stated Lebel diplomatically.

"Indeed..." Chimed in TigerVespamon, "Such threat is almost impossible to detect."

"Almost, First Major, but not completely." Countered Rosemon with a sly smile. She faced Captain Lebel, were posture formal yet beautiful despite her injuries, "We will handle things from here, Captain. We will either contact the Royal Knights or the Heavenly Choir for their help to close or destroy this portal."

"I suggest the Royal Knights, ma'am," Stingmon stepped up, earning her a glare from the First Major for being informal and blunt but that didn't stop her from continuing, "The Heavenly Choir do not to partake in this war, even if it involves the Dark Area. These selfish bastards are too preoccupied with their precious cloud cities."

"I may not agree with your view on the Holy Angels, well not to that extreme," She said with an amused tone, "But it is preferable to contact the Holy Knights for their help, at least they wouldn't be a... liability to our operations."

"In that case, I'll taking my leave then," Lebel stood straightly and saluted the three digimon officers, "Commander, First Major, Chief". They saluted back and bid the human farewell, soon resuming on their current task.

"Let's go, gentlemen! In the vehicle!" Bellowed a Chief Sergeant over the line of French troopers.

With discipline, the soldiers orderly went in the VBCIs and VABs while others had the chance to pitch a ride on the helicopter; Nathan was one of them.

Feeling the helicopter jerked upwards, he momentarily grabbed his seat to stable himself until the aircraft was fully up in the air. The nose of the chopper pitched forwards and headed for the troop carrier, waiting the men at the sea.

Nathan closed his eyes and took in the refreshing breeze caused by the helicopter. It was finally over, he will get some hot shower, a real meal and rest on a bed before his company his shipped out to the next battleground the next week.

Unfortunately, that didn't suit him. His friends and squadmates were now gone, he will be seen by the Lieutenant and Captain to transfer him to another squad, as if it would be that easy. Or he could get a ticket home...

Home, it was the last thing on his mind when he first came into the Digital World. He didn't missed France much, he genuinely liked this world. It was beautiful, charming and amazing. The air fresh and pure, the landscape had so much variety and each had their own charm and oddity. And the inhabitants of this world, they were the nicest people he ever met.

They may be formed from '1's and '0's, part of a video game of some sort but they were more human than humans themselves.

But now, he just wants to go home and forget this world. He wants to see his family and tell them how much he missed and loves them. He wants to see his girlfriend and give her a big hug, missing her adorable laugh and perfect smile.

Right now, he wishes for home.

The ship's canteen was completely crowded, and not for a good reason. Casualties had been abnormaly high for the French Army, making it the third bloodiest battle in the French Armed Forces, both companies were cut in half during the operation.

The canteen was transformed into the secondary medical bay, the kitchen staff only prepared a small meal for the returning troops while medics worked tiredlessly on their patients, the moans and groans of the wounded was almost nauseating for Nathan followed with the heavy smell of blood.

The tables were used as makeshift operation tables, the surgeons focused on their patient with nurses and assistants running left and right in the crowded space.

Making his way to the single food tray manned two kitchen staff members, he greeted them and quickly grab the small plate of rice and minced chicken breast with a styrofoam cup of water.

Vacating the canteen, he found himself in the narrow steel hallway of the ship, trying to find a suitable and peaceful spot to eat.

Many were lucky and found their spots in the vehicle bay before it too became another makeshift medical bay. Though the area was big enough for a whole company, it was too noisy for Nathan.

He just wants to eat his meal in peace.

Minutes of searching and he ended up in his sleeping quarter. His roommates weren't here yet. He sat down on his bed and immediately began eating his breakfast-lunch. He swallowed up spoonfuls of food, shoving them into his mouth before another bite. That is until he felt that something was missing.

"...ah merde..." He forgot to take the bread.

It was late afternoon when the last French troopers returned to the troop carriers. The digimon coalition had full control over the archipelago while the humans prepared for their journey to the next battlefield.

Nathan was taking a nap, having nothing to do for the rest of the day.

Two of his roommates were also present in the small sleeping quarter. One was laying on his bunk bed, one knee propped up with the other leg resting on top of it, using his feet as a support for his sketch book, drawing miscellaneous landscapes of the Digital World.

The other was on the top bed, above Nathan's, playing on his PSP, eyes glued to the screen and headphones on, his surroundings muffled and filled with the wonderful sounds of swords slashing and dicing.

A loud knock came to interrupt their break, all three suddenly shot out of their beds and stood straightly next to each other. Entering the small room was Lieutenant Dubois, facing the three soldiers with tired and stoic eyes.

"At ease, guys." As told, they slacked their postures but still stared at the officer, "Private Yvelin, you're coming with me." He ordered.

"Received, my Lieutenant." Nathan dutifully replied and followed his platoon commander.

Reaching the officers' quarters, Dubois allowed the private to walk in first. Once in, Nathan was face-to-face with the captain's office, Lebel was signing a document before slightly tilting his head upwards, a brief stare at the soldier and he put down his pen.

Dubois walked next to the office and stood at attention, hands clasped behind his back. Lebel coughed and stood up. Nathan gave a sharp salute and waited for the captain to salute back. After the formal greeting, Lebel sat back down and sighed.

"I am sorry for the lost of friends and squadmates. As you may know, our numbers had seriously diminish, half of the company now gone; the same could be said for 4th Company." He stated grimly, "We are barely holding ourselves with the huge lost we have received and it is quite difficult for us to relocate and reorganise our forces." He stared at the soldier with heavy eyes, like many, he was sleep deprived during the operation, "Lieutenant Dubois had reported to me of your encounter with the MarineDevimon and your actions on the battlefield, I must admit, I am quite impressed."

He rummaged through a stack of paper and took out a single sheet. He turned the paper over and slid it in front of Nathan with his pen.

"As a reward for your bravery, we wanted to promote you to Corporal and give you a ticket home." Nathan's eyes widened with surprise at the suggestion.

"I can go home?" He asked meekly, almost nervous and not believing his chance.

"Yes, private. This will be a two-month break before your re-deployment with the company. All you need is sign the contract and you'll be escorted back to the Gate." Lebel explained with a faint smile.

"But- can I stay with the company instead?" Nathan felt bad that he gets to go back home while others couldn't, he didn't want to leave his brother-in-arms behind, what was left of them.

"You can and you'll still get your promotion. I suggest you think carefully on your choice because this is a one of a life time opportunity. There aren't many like those."

Nathan grabbed the pen and stared at the document, his mind racing, unable to make a decision. Home was calling for him, begging him to take a break, to stop for once but his soldier instinct told him to stay with his brothers, to continue to fight beside them until the mission was accomplished, home can wait.

He wished he had more time but it was against him. In the end, he had to make a decision, and he did so with guilt and regret.

 _August 8_ _th_ _2018, Dawnstar Hill_

Two dozen APCs drove out of the Gate, turning to the right on the smooth paved road and formed two lines. Coming out of the armoured vehicles, soldiers quickly regrouped into their respective platoons,their deployment backsack wiehged heavily on their back. Platoon sergeants shouted at them, ordering them to hurry up.

These men were new to this world, some had their eyes wandering around themselves, amazed and curious of this mysterious land.

Not too far from the newly arrived soldiers were a dozen of civilian buses, all lined up next to each other. Their passengers: soldiers whom received a ticket back to home. They wore their uniforms and held onto their deployment backpack, some had berets on while others don't.

There were Americans, British, Japanese, Germans, Canadians, French; to name a few. All of them had the chance to go back home, either through a serious injury, discharged from service or retiring or, on a rare occasion, for outstanding act on the battlefield.

Nathan Yvelin, being the only French soldier of the group, and part of the few who could return back home.

His stared at the ground mindlessly, guilt not yet gone in his guts. But this was his decision, his friends and fellow squadmates all congratulated him, cheering for him and happy to see on of their own finally taking a well-deserved break.

For him, it felt like he betrayed his platoon, saving his own ass while he could've saved others like he was trained to. He felt like a coward, he didn't deserve this; so many others who did more than him deserved this. This was a steal and he was ashamed of this.

Even if it was for two months, it was months in home with family while the rest of his company will have to endure more and suffer more losses.

His mind snapped back to reality when a Japanese Sergeant yelled in broken english:

"We leaving soon! Into the bus!"

The group complied and went in the civilian transports. The men of various nations were thrilled and happy, talking animatedly with each other, making new friends with the others, even if the language barrier was a small obstacle.

As for Yvelin, he sat the farthest seat at the back of the bus, isolating himself from the others. He took out his personal smartphone and put on his headphones, ignoring the world around and try to calm himself down with some music.

A couple of minutes later and the bus started to move, driving towards the void dark space in the Gate. Just as the bus was engulfed in darkness, when everything on Nathan's sight was black, the Digital World now gone from his eyes.

Nathan broke down and sobbed quietly.

* * *

 **Author's note: Thus this finally ends; sorry for the long ass pause on this story but I had a major case of writer's block with this particular. I hope some of you enjoyed it, not a perfect ending but at least I have completed this story. À la prochaine!**


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